Notes and Editorial Reviews

Ms. Argerich...combines a colossal technique with powerfully instinctive musicianship and electrifying energy... As a limited release, in a deluxe edition, Deutsche Grammophon has just issued a special four-CD set with live performances involving Ms. Argerich at the [Lugano] festival, in diverse repertory including seven solo concertos played with the Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana and various conductors: Beethoven’s First and Second, Prokofiev’s First and Third, Liszt’s First, Bartok’s Third and the Schumann. This exciting release is an ideal present.

-- Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times [11/20/2012]

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Since 2002 Martha Argerich's
Progetto at the Lugano Festival has broughtRead more together many notable artists for memorable concerts of chamber and orchestral music. This deluxe 4-CD set offers a rich selection of live concerto recordings, all with Martha Argerich and all first-time releases. They include a number of works new to her Deutsche Grammophon discography (Mozart, Prokofiev, Bartok and Poulenc) in addition to scintillating performances of Schubert, Brahms and Milhaud all CD premieres of pieces absolutely new to her repertoire.

It's a mixture of the familiar and the new; but even the familiar gets an extra frisson through the tension and edge of live performance atmosphere. The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana is Ms. Argerichs excellent partner under a variety of conductors including Charles Dutoit, Ion Marin and Alexandre Rabinovitch; piano colleagues such as Rico and Paul Gulda (Mozart Triple Concerto) also join her on stage.

The deluxe packaging is an oblong format, with a hardcover slipcase enclosing a 36-page hardcover book in full color.

The 4 CDs are shelved two on the inside front cover, two on the inside back cover. The main article is by Lugano Festival Director Carlo Piccardi, and there are eight pages of color photos from performances at the Festival.Read less